Did Judaism begin in Ancient Palestine?

Answer 1

Technically, Judaism started in the garden of Eden. However, the Father of Judaism, Abraham, started in the city of Ur in Mesopotamia...and he was a Gentile. He moved to what is today Israel, and spent the rest of his life there. His family settled there, so yes Judaism started in Israel.

Answer 2

Yes. According to the Torah (also known as the Old Testament to non-Jews), Avraham, the father of the Jews, lived in Canaan which later came to be called Eretz Yisrael or the Land of Israel.

How long have Jews been in Israel?

The Patriarchs and their family were in Israel (Canaan) for 220 years. The era from Joshua until the First Destruction (including the Judges and Kings) was 850 years. The Second Temple era was, according to traditional chronology, another 420 years (not 586), which included the Hasmonean dynasty. That's a total of 1490 years.
After the Second Destruction, there were thousands of Jews who remained in Israel (Judea; Palestine) throughout the Talmudic era and beyond (see for example the Talmud, Sanhedrin 17b). They were the majority of Palestine's population well into the fourth century, with records attesting to at least 43 Jewish communities, most of them in the Galilee and Jordan valley. After that, there were still Yeshivas in Israel with at least some thousands of community-members.
In the fifth century, the Jerusalem Talmud was completed in the yeshiva of Tiberias, by the disciples of Rabbi Johanan; and the Christians of Palestine declared Judaism to be a tolerated minority.
In the sixth century CE, Mar Zutra and his descendants served as head of the community and the Rabbinical academy in Tiberias.
In the seventh century, the Palestinian Jews joined the Persians in a battle to take Jerusalem from the local Byzantines, and enjoyed a brief autonomy, which the Byzantines under Heraclius officially recognized in 628. At the time of the Moslem conquest of Palestine in 638, the Jewish population in the land has been put at no less than 300,000; and a period of flourishing began. Caliph Umar encouraged Jews to resettle Jerusalem.
In the eighth century, there were 30 synagogues in Tiberias. A Jew named Abu Issa brought his forces in battle against the Caliph.
In the ninth century, the Jews of Palestine instituted their own Gaon (leading sage) in Tiberias and later in Jerusalem.
In the tenth century, we have the greatest of the Massoretes, Rabbis Aharon ben Asher and Ben Naphtali, flourishing in Tiberias.
Contemporary with Rashi (11th century), we have a Rabbi Abiathar and others, who lived in Israel (see for example Rashi commentary, Talmud Berakhot 62a), and large Jewish communities in Rafah and Ramle, Hebron, Acre, Caesaria, Jaffa, Ashkelon and Gaza.
In the 12th-13th centuries, the Palestinian Jews were harshly persecuted under the Christian Crusaders, yet many Jews continued to live in all the above-mentioned towns as well as Haifa, with Judah Halevi journeying to Palestine in 1141, Maimonides in 1165, and Nachmanides in 1286. In 1187, Saladdin invited more Jews to settle Palestine. In 1204, a group of Maghreb Jews arrived; and in 1211, 300 Rabbis arrived from France and England. In 1260, Rabbi Yechiel of Paris established a Talmud academy in Acre.
Since that time, the continual presence of Jewish communities in Palestine (Israel) is well-known and needs no reiteration.
A brief timeline of Israel and the Jews:
1) c.1950 BCE: Noah delegated what is now called Israel to the children of Shem (Rashi commentary to Genesis ch.12).
2) c. 1750 BCE: The neighboring Canaanites slowly take control of the land (ibid) which therefore becomes called Canaan.
3) 1737-1522 BCE: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob spread their teachings in the land. God promises this land to them and their descendants (Genesis ch.28).
4) 1272 BCE: The Israelites under Joshua, at God's command, enter the land (Joshua ch.3-4) which now becomes called the Land of Israel.
5) 422 BCE: The Babylonians destroy the First Temple, exiling the Jews.
6) 352 BCE: The Persians permit the Jews to rebuild the Temple. Many Jews settle in Israel, now called Judea, while others remain in Babylonia.
7) 68 CE: The Romans destroy the Second Temple. Most of the Jews in Judea slowly scatter afield, but some thousands remain. Judea is renamed Palestine by the Romans.
8) 1096-1270: the Crusades.
9) from 1492: after the Spaniards expel all Jews from Spain, some thousands move to Palestine.
10) c.1780-1880: The first wave of Aliyah, mostly religious Jews, who move from Europe to Israel (Palestine) in the thousands.
11) c.1880 onward: the large-scale Jewish return to Israel gets underway.

Answer 3

Tradition says that the Judaism originated as long ago as the time of Abraham, long before the foundation of Israel.

Some scholars dispute the story of Abraham and say that Judaism really originated in the southern Hebrew kingdom of Judah, after the destruction of Israel in the north. Large numbers of Israelite refugees had flooded south into Judah and no doubt created tensions in the smaller kingdom. Judaism began as a means of uniting the beliefs and cultures of the Israelite immigrants and the indigenous Judahites. The scriptures emphasized or created the common origins of the two ethnically related people, and worship of a common, all-powerful God was intended to create religious and cultural harmony.

There is also the religious answer which says that God explicitly chose Moses and the Jewish people to carry his message. Further, it claims that the Land of Israel was promised to those people. So, in that respect it would be seen that God caused Judaism to exist in Israel.

There is also the cultural answer which says that Judaism is a mix of varying different beliefs and scriptures found throughout the Ancient Middle East and Egypt. Ideas of monotheism may have come from Akhenaton and the Cult of Ra, stories about Adam and Eve, Noah, and others may have Akkadian origins, and the list goes on. These cultural confluences collided in the Land of Israel resulting in the Jewish religion.

Answer 4

Answer 1

It depends entirely by what is meant by "started".

Judaism certainly underwent the greatest amount of development in the Land of Israel, but since Judaism has no single founder or founding and some of Judaism's leaders lived in Israel and others did not, the answer is ambiguous in regard to the "start" of Judaism.

A number of Canaanite and Phoenician polytheistic religions (most of which were derivatives of each other and used much of the same pantheon) developed endemically in the area, but these religions went extinct as Judaism, Hellenic Mythology, Egyptian Mythology, and Christianity pushed them out of existence.

No other extant faith has its primary origins in Israel. While Jesus of Nazareth lived his entire life in Israel, much of the Christian faith was developed in the Aegean in the numerous ecumenical councils. Before that, most of the early Christian communities were in Syria and Anatolia, not Israel. Islam, as expressed through Qur'anic Revelation, took place in Arabia. The Dharmic Religions were founded in India, Shenism in China, and most Animist faiths were founded locally by individual tribes.

Answer 2

• There was no Israel State before year 1947. However, the religion that started in the region (now called Israel and Palestinian territory) is Islam.
• Islam in its universal meaning is full submission to Allah (or God in English and same God worshiped in Judaism and Christianity) as the one and only one God with no partner, no companion, no son, no father, no associate, and no equivalence.
• Islam per Torah revelation to Moses is called Judaism. Islam per Bible revelation to Jesus is called Christianity. Islam per Quran revelation to Muhammad is called the same name Islam as it is last God religion.
• Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) was sometimes named Israel. However, never the relevant area is called Israel until year 1947.

Jewish answer:

The country of Israel is named as such in 1 Samuel 13:19, some 2900 years ago. The first religion begun there (after the ancient idolaters) was Judaism. After the name of Israel, the country was called Judea for several centuries more.

Note that Islam began in Arabia, not in Israel or Palestine. The second Answer seems disingenuous to the point of being misleading.

Answer 5

Answer AThe roots of Judaism are prehistoric, but the historical and (more or less) unified beliefs have their beginning, at least in the understanding and tradition of the Hebrew people began when Abraham (Abram/Abraham of the book of Genesis) made a covenant with God that he (and his tribe or social group) would follow God as his god. Note that the Semitic people, of which Abraham and his people were a part believed in many gods and monotheism (belief in the existence of only one God) was a much later development.

This covenant, according to Genesis, took place at Haran, possibly the same area as the present village of Harran in present-day Turkey.

Answer B (Hints on the above)

• Hebrew is never a religion. Hebrew is a language of the same roots as Arabic language.
• Prophet Abraham is neither Jewish nor Christian. He was Muslim in the broader sense of Islam that means full submission and surrender to God. Also, the prophets Isaac, Ismael, Jacob, and Joseph are Muslims.
• Judaism started by start of Torah revelation to prophet Moses (Pbuh) while he was on the mountain called Tur in Sinai (Egypt)
• It should be differentiated between Judaism as religion and the Jewish tribes as a race and descendants of Isaac.
• It is narrated that Prophet Musa (or Moses) was assigned by God to call people for belief in God as the one and only one God as follows:

  The Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) left Median (where he married and crossed the sandy desert and reached the mountain, Tur in Sinai. He perceived a brilliant light from a distance. Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) thought that to be fire land reached near it to warm himself. All of a sudden a voice was-heard from the right side of the Valley. It uttered (Quran says with English meaning translation):

  "Surely. I am your Lord: so put off your shoes because you are in the sacred Valley which is blessed twice I have chosen you; so hearken to what shall be revealed: Verily, I am Allah, there is no god but I, therefore serve-Me-and keep up prayers for My remembrance." (10: 22) . Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) was puzzled and scared. The thing which looked like fire was not fire in the real sense of the word but it was the reflection of the glory of God. It was a moment of great honor for Prophet Musa (peace be upon him). This moment was the true moment of start of Judaism religion.

Answer c (Jewish Answer):There are three answers. One is Babylonia, since according to tradition it was there that the young Abraham first repudiated the ubiquitous idolatry and began teaching others about the One God.

The second, more correct answer is the Holy Land, since it was there that Abraham lived most of his life, made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15), and raised a family to be the center of carrying on his traditions (Genesis 18:19).

Thirdly, Judaism as a binding, permanent entity, was set forth between God and the Israelite nation descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at Mount Sinai in the time of Moses (Exodus ch.19, ch.24, and 34:27).

A hint on Answer COne should differentiate between Jews as a race and Judaism as a religion. Jews as a race date back to the prophet Jacob while Judaism dates back to the prophet Moses when God revealed to him the Torah.

Answer 6

The general religious answer is that Judaism originated in Israel (Ancient Palestine), but there are three acceptable religious answers. In addition there is also the historical answer.

Religious: Israel

The general correct answer is the Holy Land (Canaan; today's Israel), since it was there that Abraham lived most of his life. It was there that Abraham made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15) and raised his family and taught disciples to carry on his beliefs and traditions (see Genesis 18:19).

Religious: Harran (North Syria/South Turkey)

Judaism, theoretically, could also have developed in Harran, since it was there that the young Abraham was born, and repudiated the ubiquitous idolatry and began teaching others about the One God.

Religious: Sinai (Northeast Egypt)

The Jewish people officially became a nation at Mt. Sinai when G-d revealed Himself to 2 million people and gave them the Torah. This differs from other religions in the fact that the revelation involved the whole nation and not just one individual.

Historical: Israel and Babylonia (Central Iraq)

Jewish teachings began to crystallize in the times of the Kings of Israel, but those beliefs and traditions did not crystallize until the Jewish Exile in Babylon. It was at this point, that the Torah was completed as explained by the JEPD hypothesis.

Answer 7

Yes.